Hillside mayor wants State Police to help probe stone-throwing on Route 22

As the number of motorists victimized by stone-throwing on Route 22 in Hillside continues to rise, Mayor Karen McCoy Oliver said today it is time for the township to get help from New Jersey State Police.

"It's a state highway, and people's lives are in jeopardy," the mayor said a day after multiple incidents brought the number of people who have suffered injuries or auto damage to near 30.

In a memo to Police Chief Robert Quinlan, Oliver wrote she is concerned that the township is "without any resolution to what we both can agree is a very dangerous situation."

"I am recommending that you reach out to the New Jersey State Police for assistance, so that more assertive efforts can be implemented to prevent further injuries and or damages," she wrote. "There must be proactive initiatives implemented immediately to maintain order on such a heavily traveled stretch of highway."

Quinlan issued a brief comment this afternoon.

"The incidents on Route 22 are under investigation," he said, adding the probe is particularly daunting because "not a single victim has seen a person throw a rock."

Regarding Oliver's memo, Quinlan said, "The mayor hasn't communicated with me, so I have no comment."

Detective Lt. Matthew Ross, leading the township's investigation, has said pieces of paving stones are being thrown from a westbound vehicle or vehicles at the driver-side windshield of autos traveling east.

Several motorists say they have been struck in the chest, while a chunk of rock glanced off one man's neck. A rear-seat passenger required three staples to the back of her head after a stone thrown through a windshield ricocheted off the back seat and struck her.

Numerous motorists say they have been injured by flying glass, with at least one suffering a scratched cornea and others facial cuts.

Ross said it is miraculous no one has been killed or seriously injured.

He said the incidents began June 8, and are more serious than the rock-throwing from overpasses that occurs perennially along the highway in Hillside.

Local authorities discount a gang connection to the incidents. Gangs prefer to be confrontational or in-your-face, rather than strike from a distance, Ross said.

Police have not issued an official update on the number of incidents since June 17.

A Newark resident whose car was struck Monday said he was driving from his job in Union about 6 p.m. when a stone crashed through his windshield near the Newark border. The man said because there is no shoulder along that stretch of highway, he drove to the next exit in Newark and dialed 911.

The man, who escaped injury, told Hillside police he saw a white car and white delivery truck just before his car was hit. He said police told him a surveillance camera in the area would be checked.

The Union County Prosecutor's Office said it is willing to aid the investigation. The Union County Crimestoppers program also announced a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and indictment in the incidents, stressing calls can be made anonymously to (908) 654-TIPS (8477).